Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-11-03
HORSESHOE BRAGG.
What Happened After He Left
Deadwood Camp.

DEADwooD, Oak, Sept. 5, 1876
The air was hazy and fall-like, and the
sun was ready to sink behind the
mountains to the west. The crowds of
men-all armed-around the saloon
doors might almost have heard the
breeze sigh through the great dark
tops of the pines on the mountains to
the north, south, east, west. Horseshoe
Bragg had been ordered 10 leave the
camp.
And further fact was that Horse
shoe Bragg was going to do it. He
had shaken hands with the foreman of
the hastily-formed jury, thanked him
for the extreme lightness of the YER
dict, and assured him that he ..knew
when to mosey." That worthy indi-
Vidual had congratulated him on his
insight into the necessities of the case
and returned him his revolver. And
so he crossed WhitewoOd creek, and
heard it murmuring rs if complaining
that the gulch was not wide enough for
itself and the main street of Deadwood
and calling attention to its priority of
claim, and then he turned down the
dusty trail just as the sun sank behind
the mountains over by the Golden
Gate and the rich but undiscovered
mines to the west.
Horseshoe Bragg. 1t is not at all
probable that little wee baby, with
his great, round. staring brown eyes,
was ever christened Horseshoe, so
there is not much chance that that was
his right name. AS for Bragg it
might be his name and it might not;
nobody in the Hills knew. But Mr.
Bragg was leaving Deadwood and tax
ing his peculiarly-constructe name
with him, and 1t was agreed by all the
leading citizens that his going was a
great thing for the moral atmosphere
of the city-an atmosphere in the
minds of these leading citizens remark
able for its extreme purity.
For Deadwood had of late been en-
joying Il moral upheaval and removal
ton. Murders had become too fire.
quent-our friend, Horseshoe Bragg,
had shot man early that morning;
that was the reason he was going.
Only II month before Wild Bill, that
prince of Western characters. and a
better man than Buffalo Bill ever was,
had been assassinated-killed in cold
blOod-and his murderer had escaped
by pleading to another hastily-formed
jury that Bill had killed his brother in
TeXas-which had since been dis
proved. This was the same story
Bragg had told-some thought it was
the truth, others didn't. There had
been other shooting affairs. Bragg
had come to the Hills few months
before along with the hundreds of
other desperate characters who fiocked
to the new Eldorado that memorable
first summer, and it was said that this
was not the first man that he had
killed. The feeling of the jury was
that it would be well enough for him to
got is probable that he would have
been hung, despite his plea, had the
murdered man been better known and
hac amy friends except the few he had
made during the week or so he had
been in the camp. So when Horseshoe
turned down the dusty trail he under
stood that he had just two bours in
which to leave the too highly moral at
mOsphere of Deadwood behind.
1t was really much more time than
he needed. II could almost reach an
other camp and get myself ordered to
leave again in that time, he remarked
pleasantly to himself. Perhaps Mr..
Horseshoe Baagg had left Western min
ing camps on shorter notice. So he
loitered leisurely along and frequently
stopped to pick up specimen" and